Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

Outside the windows, the mountains seemed to rise out of nowhere. Heading out of each tunnel, the traveler is suddenly blinded by the bright colors on the slopes. With not a single piece of dirt, the golden yellow and the bight green leaves of well-preserved old growth is dotted by the occasional pink blossoms and uncharacteristically fiery red. The concentrated eyes of the traveler are forced to refocus to find these dissidents of nature amid the equally beautiful majority. And as the traveler continues to glance through the rising landscape, the insignificantly little yet respectably resilient human habitation comes into his eyes. The old wooden houses with black tiles are seemingly decorated by the movements of the hardy (aging) farmers picking through the nearby fields. If it were not for the well-worn little trucks taking the produce to the faraway markets, no one would be able to tell that this is no longer feudal Japan… Inside the warm and nearly empty trains, children spok

Recently, I watched a lecture on increasing realization of civil rights in China and the media's role in the realization. The lecturer made a strong point that the increasingly unstoppable dissent by journalists in officially sanctioned press, combined with spread of the info through SNS , is forcefully breaking down the propaganda apparatus maintained by the Communist Party (cited by the lecturer as "the most sophisticated in human history"). He notes with optimism that the media, backed by intellectuals, is institutionalizing dissent and slowly eroding the established cultural attitudes of the Chinese people. Foreign ideas, passed on through the media and SNS, is infusing foreign ideas rapidly into the Chinese mind...All very clichéd arguments that have been made by "Chinese experts" for years now. But a little side-note I picked up in his argument (and I want to discuss a bit) is that he notes the same thing did not happen with Japan's "free pres

In a previous post , I argued that the lack of social openness in Japanese society nullifies many of the redeeming qualities associated with her abundant political freedoms as a relatively mature democracy. As a continuation of that thought, I have to further examine the underlying social force that results in that lack of social openness. I ask: what exactly causes a nation so full of technical innovation to not show a slightest hint of it on the socio-political aspect? Why is the country so conservatively exclusive in social behavior despite having been interacting with the most modern philosophies for the past couple of centuries? The answer, I believe, lies within the steadfast hold on a sense of stability through hierarchy so central to any Confucian society. Those with seniority are supposed to supply the young ones with wisdom and money, while the youth will pay back by absolute obedience to the orders from the elders. Rebellion by the youth is considered the main cause of

As my planned departure from Japan getting final approval from the company, the last days of my (current period of) working life in Japan has truly become a matter of question. Amid my lack of motivation and the company's lack of incentive to give me any significant work, I wonder if staying here until I truly must depart for England is in any way a wise decision....unfortunately, so far, the answer to the question has been mostly a big, absolute "No." Here is the current situation. After informing my superiors that LSE will start for at the end of September, I was frankly told that my stay in sales position will last until the day I physically leave the company. The rationale is that, rather than transferring me to another department ( even if one where I can immediately be put to use ), I should master the "art of sales" so that next time I look for a job anywhere in the world, I can immediately put my "negotiation and speaking" skills to effecti

Only a few years ago, people speculated the possibility of Facebook and Twitter succeeding in Japan. With strong domestic competitors such as Mixi and other social platforms (such as online forums) in a country already highly literate and connected to the cyberspace, people doubted that “Western” SNS can take roots here. Additionally, the strong Japanese, and indeed East Asian, obsession with “cyber-anonymity” largely conflicts with an equally strong obsession for the opposite shown by the likes of Facebook. Then, in what seems like a quick flash of time, the potential dominance of both Facebook and Twitter has become a foregone conclusion. While domestic social platforms still lead in absolute numbers of visitors, the what-used-to-be “foreign novelties” from Silicon Valley have become household names. Their growth rates in the country have become the envy of all other dot-com firms in Japan, both foreign and Japanese in origin. Yet, a closer observation shows that the increasingly

"Freedom," now more than ever, has become the standard buzzword in the political literature of all countries. Whether it be promoting pro-Western democratic revolutions in the Middle East , or subverted rebellion against established regimes , the single word "freedom" somehow represents all concentrated anger of dissatisfied populations and suppressed ambitions of disenfranchised activists. It is a word that arose passions of millions and fears of all political censors. Generally when the word "freedom" is touched upon in the media and government announcement, it is almost always representative of political freedom, an ability of individuals to express their opinions and views without fear of persecution. Certainly, all democratic regimes (and several non-democratic ones) have actually enforced laws to guarantee freedom of expressions. No matter how marginal and violent the views are, as long as the views are not hurtful to other segments of society,

These days, I just cannot stop thinking about all the factors that go into a successful departure for England. Continuing to worry about the money to pay for LSE and the career afterwards , my weekend "to-do" list is filled with determined thoughts of looking for scholarships, grants, jobs (part-time at school and full-time after graduation)...yet, somehow, my mind keeps getting distracted by other things (such as, well, writing this blog post). A friend and coworker with previous degree recently informed of the difficulties she confronted as she wrote up her dissertation for honors in her political science degree. This 163-page monster, filled with well-researched data and citations , was indeed well-written, and no doubt time-consuming...and scary enough, this was for an UNDERGRAD political science degree. Now, a masters student has to surpass this, right? Deeper in research and more in volume is probably something for which I should be mentally prepared. Funny thing ho